The race to be the new Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is between two candidates: Mike Collier, CPA, a Democrat, and State Senator Glenn Hegar, a Republican. Mr. Collier has announced a specific plan for reforming the Comptroller’s tax administration function, so today’s post covers his plan. Senator Hegar’s plan, when released, will be addressed in a future post.

The full text of Mr. Collier’s tax administration reform plan appears after the jump, followed by a few comments. Readers are also invited to submit their questions and comments, either in the “Comments” section at the end of this post or by direct email (refer to the “Contact” page on this site for the email address). Comments will be passed along to the candidate, with or without attribution as requested.

There could be a runoff in the GOP primary for Texas Comptroller

[UPDATED 3/8/14: State Rep. Harvey Hilderbran has withdrawn from the race to be the Republican nominee for Texas Comptroller. So there won't be a runoff, and State Sen. Glenn Hegar will be the GOP nominee. He will face Mike Collier, a Democrat, in the November general election.]

As of this morning, the unofficial results on the Texas Secretary of State's Election Night Returns Page shows that no candidate received a majority of the votes in the Republican primary race for Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. But it's a real nail biter. With 99.95% of precincts reporting statewide - that's 8825 out of 8829 - State Sen. Glenn Hegar received 49.99% of the GOP vote, Rep. Harvey Hilderbran received 26.01%, Debra Medina received 19.30% and Raul Torres received 4.68%.

Keep in mind that these are unofficial numbers that will probably change as the last voting precincts are tabulated, any errors are corrected, etc. Still, at this moment it looks like the Republican nomination for Comptroller will go to a runoff election in May, and that the two candidates in the runoff will be Sen. Hegar and Rep. Hilderbran.

More about the candidates running for Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts

The Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants has been closely following the race for Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts and has published several recent posts about it on the Society’s Government Affairs blog. Among other things, those posts (with extensive internal links) have covered:

Subscribe to my new Twitter List, "TX Comptroller Candidates"

All of the individuals running for the office of Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts use Twitter to communicate about their campaigns. Because early voting in the party primaries is set to begin next week, I’ve created a public list on Twitter entitled “TX Comptroller Candidates” as a quick way to view the candidates’ latest tweets. I encourage readers of the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog to subscribe to the list and to check it out from time to time. The list is available through my Twitter profile, @AlanSherman (https://twitter.com/AlanSherman). For help in subscribing to a Twitter list, follow this link: https://support.twitter.com/articles/76460-using-twitter-lists#.

President John Fitzgerald Kennedy - 1917 - 1963

The race for Texas Comptroller has started to heat up

[UPDATE 10/19/13: Here's a link to the statement from Democratic candidate Mike Collier on Comptroller Combs' endorsement of Sen. Hegar to be her successor. No comments about the endorsement have as yet appeared on the web sites of Ms. Medina or Mr. Torres.]

This blog is about taxes, not politics. Still, so long as the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is an elected state official, politics can always affect how the Comptroller’s office administers the statewide taxes under the agency’s jurisdiction. And that brings us to today.

Since the sitting Comptroller, Susan Combs, announced her retirement from elective office earlier this year, five individuals have announced their candidacies to succeed her. The Democrat is Mike Collier, a businessman, and the four Republicans headed for that party’s primary next March are State Senator Glenn Hegar, State Representative Harvey Hilderbran, former candidate for Governor Debra Medina and former State Representative Raul Torres.

Today, Comptroller Combs endorsed one of the Republican candidates, State Sen. Glenn Hegar. The endorsement by the current officeholder would normally be expected to help a candidate in the Republican primary to be held next March. However, one of the other Republican candidates, Rep. Hilderbran, has already commented in a statement that he considers Comptroller Combs’ endorsement of Sen. Hegar to be a negative.

This pro-or-con reaction to Comptroller Combs’ endorsement of Sen. Hegar is probably just politics at work. Still, businesses and tax practitioners with an interest in Texas statewide taxes – and in any changes in how those taxes will be administered after a new Comptroller takes office in 2015 – should continue to monitor developments in this race, both in the Republican primary as well as in the general election.

The ABA Journal, published by the American Bar Association (ABA), has invited nominations for law-focused blogs, or “blawgs,” to be included in the Journal’s 7th Annual “Blawg 100” list. If you, the readers, have found the posts on this site to be interesting and useful, please nominate the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog for inclusion in this year’s “Blawg 100” list. There’s no prize for being selected (much as I wish there were), but just being nominated is considered a significant honor among law bloggers. Here’s what to do:

The Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog has been nominated as a candidate for the LexisNexis Top 20 Tax Law Blogs of 2011

UPDATE: Thanks to everyone who supported this blog and helped it to reach the rank of the LexisNexis Top 20 Tax Law Blogs of 2011, as indicated by the new badge on the right.

As you can see from the badge on the right, the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog has been nominated as a candidate for the LexisNexis Top 20 Tax Law Blogs of 2011. There are many excellent tax law blogs on the web, and it was really an honor just to be nominated in this very competitive field. Still, it would be an even bigger honor to make this year’s Top 20 Tax Law Blogs. So, if you’d like to support this blog, LexisNexis has invited tax practitioners to comment on the announcement post on their Tax law Community site. You’ll have to register if you’re not already a Tax Law Community member, but it’s easy and quick to do so.

The comment period ends tomorrow, November 18th, so please put in a good word for the blog between now and then.

The Devil's Dictionary of Taxation brings some humor to a serious subject

Tax law and humor rarely intersect, but that’s exactly what’s going on in TheDevil’s Dictionary of Taxation written by former Texas Deputy Comptroller of Public Accounts Billy Hamilton. Billy’s work is loosely based on The Devil’s Dictionary, a work by the satirist Ambrose Bierce (that’s Bierce in the image, not Billy), and it applies the same wry sense of humor to taxation topics that Bierce applied to aspects of late nineteenth century American society. Here’s one example:

"Tax Theory Versus Tax Practice: Tax theory is when you think you know something but it doesn’t work. Tax practice is when something works but you don’t know why. Typically, governments combine theory and practice so that nothing works and no one knows why."

Billy has an advantage in writing about taxes – humorously and otherwise – in that he had a close-up view of the evolution of Texas tax law during his decades of service at the Comptroller’s office until his retirement in 2006. He’s currently a policy consultant and an Adjunct Professor of Public Affairs at the University of Texas Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs. His full biography (and his actual photo) can be found on his faculty page on the LBJ School’s web site.

The Devil’s Dictionary of Taxation appeared in the “State Tax Merry-Go-Round” column in a recent edition of Tax Analysts’ State Tax Notes (50 State Tax Notes 118, October 13, 2008) and is accessible to subscribers of that publication (more information about State Tax Notes can be found on the State Tax News and Analysis page on Tax Analysts’ web site). Readers of the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog can also download the article which is reproduced here with permission.

This blog is one of the new Tax Law Center's "Top Blogs"

When I learned that a new web site, the “Tax Law Center” published by LexisNexis®, had selected the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog as one of its “Top Blogs,” I had to take a look. What I saw was a very impressive (and free!) web site that consolidates a substantial amount of tax-related news and third-party commentary, not only on state and local tax topics but also on federal and international tax matters. At the moment, most of the material is in written format, but there are also some audio presentations. Here’s the publisher’s official description of the Tax Law Center:

The newly launched LexisNexis® Tax Law Center web site provides a wealth of information on federal, state, and international tax law. On Tax Law Center, you can find daily news updates from taxanalysts®, along with insider perspectives on key issues; news about law firms and leading practitioners; compelling Podcast interviews; and free articles for download – as well as blogging. Free delivery options include RSS feeds and E-Mail alerts. Lexis.com and Tax Center subscribers can quickly access tax statutes, regulations, cases and treatises, as well as Expert Commentaries on taxation issues.

I recommend the Tax Law Center and have added a link to it in the “links” section to the right. I think the site will be an extremely useful tool for practitioners, especially those that must stay current on many types of tax issues for their companies and clients.

Because this web site is intended to focus primarily on developments in Texas state and local tax law, it’s admittedly a bit off-topic to mention similar developments in other states. Still, because many businesses based in Texas also have operations or affiliates with activities in Nevada, it’s important for those businesses to be aware of Nevada’s upcoming tax amnesty program.
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June 17, 2008 |
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Personal Notes: Happy New Year from the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog

Today ends another year of commenting on Texas state and local tax law developments. And what a year 2007 has been! For the sales, use, franchise and other statewide taxes, Susan Combs was inaugurated as the new Comptroller of Public Accounts, major changes were made to the administrative hearings process for disputing assessments or refund claim denials, and most importantly the revised franchise tax (the so-called “Margin Tax”) was revised yet again by the Legislature and extensively interpreted in the Comptroller’s administrative rules and policy statements. Likewise, for local property taxes the Texas courts decided many noteworthy cases that have earned a comment on this site.

2008 promises to be even more interesting for businesses and their tax advisors concerned about the impact of Texas state and local tax developments. I’ll be posting about those developments and as always would welcome your comments.

Travel safely during the holiday and best wishes for a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2008!

Personal Notes: Happy Thanksgiving 2007 from the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog

As we join our friends and families in giving thanks for the bounty we enjoy in this great state and country, let’s not forget the words attributed to United States Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.:

“Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.”

True enough, but no one should pay more than what the law requires. My hope is that the insight and commentary on Texas state and local tax developments posted on this site will continue to help those who advise businesses to better understand what the tax laws of this state require of their clients.

I was very disturbed to read a story in today's online edition of the Houston Chronicle newspaper about a Texas tax auditor allegedly soliciting a bribe from a business he was auditing. Something like that should never happen. Still, I hope that anyone who's read the story, or who will read it now by following this link, will reserve judgment until things unfold a bit further. Here's why.
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July 25, 2007 |
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The Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog is the State Bar of Texas' "Featured This Week" blog

The State Bar of Texas lists "Blogs by Texas Lawyers" on its web site and features one blog each week. I'm pleased to report that the Texas State & Local Tax Law Blog has been designated as this week's selection under the caption "Featured This Week."

For more information and to see a current list of all of the blogs by Texas lawyers, take a look at the State Bar's web page listing. Also, be sure to check back at that site periodically as the list continues to grow as more lawyer blogs become known to the State Bar.